Getting the Visa

So I realize Ashawnté and I haven't even left yet, but this story deserved to be posted before we even arrived in Ecuador. Yesterday morning (December 30th) we left home at 5:00 a.m. for Washington D.C. where we would get our visas issued by the Ecuadorian Consulate. We drove for almost five hours, arriving at the Consulate right around 10:00. Dad said a prayer, asking for Jehovah's Spirit to be with us as we were about to request missionary visas from the Ecuadorian government. Ashawnté and I walked up to the building, opened the door and there was a giant CLOSED sign posted on the inner door to the Consulate. Can you believe that!? So we walked back to the car, told mom and dad, and sat in silence and disbelief for the next few minutes. Then mom chimes in...

She decided to call the other Ecuadorian Consulate to see if they happened to be open. They were! So we all agreed that Ashawnté and I needed those visas yesterday and we had no choice by to drive to the other Consulate....in Newark, NJ!! Off we went, another three and a half hours drive to New Jersey! Oh by the way, the one in New Jersey closed at 3:00 p.m. and it was already after 10:00 so we had to book it!! We ended up getting stuck in traffic twice that was backed up for more than two miles. The first time we chanced it because jumping off of the turnpike might have actually slowed us down, but the second time we all realized that if we sat there in that traffic we for sure wouldn't make it in time.

We arrived at the Newark branch at 2:50 p.m. Talk about cutting it close! But we finally got our passports! After starting this process back in June, we are finally bringing it to a close!! Then we were on our way back home, another six to seven hours drive. We ended up getting home at 1:04 a.m. What a day!! Today, however, Ashawnté and I bought our tickets and we will be leaving Pittsburgh on Friday, January 7th. Hopefully nothing else major happens from now until then and the next post will actually be from Ecuador.

Well, all for now. Hope you enjoyed the first post!